Harvick puts trouble behind him with win

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Kevin Harvick stayed out of trouble on and off the track Saturday and held off several challenges from Tony Raines to win the Channellock 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Harvick led the final 97 laps of the Busch race, passing Scott Wimmer for the lead and hanging on. There were 13 cautions -- one short of the race record -- for 77 laps, and only 23 cars were running at the end.

It was at this race last year that Harvick first got into trouble with NASCAR. After being knocked out of the race by an accident with Greg Biffle, Harvick waited for Biffle to finish and charged after him on pit road. NASCAR put Harvick on probation.

There was no repeat Saturday: Harvick climbed out of his car grinning, then heaped praise on the runner-up.

"Tony Raines is going to win some races this year," Harvick said. "He's a good guy and a good race car driver who hasn't had a lot of opportunities. He's going to find a way to get the job done."

The final caution came out with eight laps to go when Ron Hornaday and Kasey Kahne wrecked. NASCAR stopped the race to clean up the track, and the field went green with five laps to go.

LUCAS OIL 250: Ted Musgrave wasn't bothered by a two-year absence from Mesa Marin Raceway, winning the pole position run for today's race. Musgrave, the 2001 winner, covered the half-mile paved oval at 93.293 mph. The pole was the sixth of Musgrave's trucks series career.

PUREX DIAL INDY 200: Two races into the season, the inside of the front row belongs to Tony Kanaan. He became the fifth driver in IndyCar series history to earn consecutive pole positions when he qualified fastest for today's race at Phoenix International Raceway. Kanaan was the 16th of 22 drivers and benefited from team owner-driver Michael Andretti's advice. "I was lucky to pull out a number behind my two teammates, so I got feedback from them," said Kanaan, who drove his Honda-powered Dallara at 178.51 mph.

MONTERREY GP: Rookie Sebastien Bourdais has two poles in as many races after taking the top spot in final qualifying for the Champ Cars race in Mexico. Bourdais secured the pole with a lap of 1 minute, 14.938 seconds, or 101.076 mph, moments before the checkered flag. That lap broke the track qualifying record of 1:15.244 at 100.665 mph set in 2001 by Kenny Brack.

MALAYSIAN GP: Fernando Alonso became the youngest driver to win a pole position in Formula One. The 21-year-old drove his Renault around the 3.45-mile circuit in 1:37.044.